


Falling  in Love

by Asimplewriterlivingasimplelife2



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, pre game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-25 00:05:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4939084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asimplewriterlivingasimplelife2/pseuds/Asimplewriterlivingasimplelife2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The five times Chris hugged Ashley and the one time she hugged him first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Party

     It wasn’t hard to see how many people were drunk off their asses at the late night house party. The air smelled like weed and alcohol, a mix that Ashley personally didn’t really like to be around. The area to her just felt ridiculously crowded or people were just getting real close in the kinda small room. Ashley stuck to sticking to the wall where it was less crowded, a warm beer still in her hand. She wasn’t really the drinker, Jessica just made her get one.  
This was the college life after all. Parties and Classes, a constant switch that Ashley didn’t really think was real until she had shown up here a few months ago. She was happy to see her friends join her here and parties were sometimes fun, but not tonight. The music gave her a headache and the air was just too pungent all the time.  
   

       In the crowd, she could easily spot Mike and Jessica grinding and pretty drunk already two hours in? It wasn’t really hard to see them and they were made the only people she knew really well here. Mike had this black t-shirt on with dark jeans, it was too hot for his new letter jacket. Jessica who was dressed very revealing was wearing this pretty short white top...and a short black skirt.Everyone loved Michael Munroe, Mr. Class President and Quarterback last year in senior year. Ashley could agree with her friends when they said he had a big ego because that wasn’t even close to being a lie. Jessica Rogers was well homecoming queen last senior year. Ashley thought she could be a bitch, but when they had to share a dorm and share conversations...she could say they were kinda best friends.  
   

      When the lights started flashing, Ashley swore to herself she was a little too drunk or maybe took a larger hit than she thought. Usually she didn’t over do it, but now those rainbow lights were getting blended together. The music felt louder and Ashley swore that this was a whole new level of headache.  
     

     Ashley eventually decided to move and go find Chris. She wobbled on her feet as she shoved her way through the crowd. She knew he was here, Chris came with her on the way into what she thought of was a terrible mistake. When she abandoned the beer on a table, pulling out her phone to call him she saw him.  
Chris was wearing a red plaid shirt and a white t-shirt. The flannel looked pretty loose due to Chris being tall and lanky. Usually Ashley knew him to wear too many layers and it made him look a lot more bulkier than the usual now. Chris always did the same with his dark blonde hair all the time, spiking it up at the front. Christopher Jensen was the model student after all even in college. He was devoted, hard-working, and a striving perfectionist.  
Ashley really did like that.

     As she got closer to him, Ashley could see his eyes were on his phone. Grey blue eyes scanned the screen of the electronic device and the reflection of the lights bounced off of his square black framed glasses. Usually, Chris was also on his phone because he was an ‘addict’ for his electronic.

     Right when he took a drink of his Heineken that was on the table, he took off his glasses rubbing his eyes. Ashley could see his eyes go up to her line of sight and he squinted, putting on his glasses still looking at her like she wasn’t even there. There wasn’t a response and Ashley thought he was just that fucked up too, but then a small smile came to his face.

     Ashley went to go sit next to him. Of course Ashley liked him but it wasn’t hard to be around him, they were best friends. Sure she blushed a lot sometimes but things weren’t really different. When she took her seat on the kind of uncomfortable couch, Ashley saw him put his phone away in his jacket.  
    Chris shouted over the music, “You don’t seem like you’re having fun Ash.”  
    Chris was the only person to ever use that nickname on Ashley and she only did really like it from him.  
     Ashley gave him a small shrug, “I like parties but...I’m not really feeling it today I guess. I could say the same about you though Chris.”  
     Ashley could see him give her that flashy grin shaking his head. Chris took another drink of his beer, leaning back on the couch.  
     He was looking at the group, “Parties aren’t really my thing I guess.”  
     Ashley leaned back with him, “You got pretty fucked up before.”  
     Maybe there were too many lights, but Ashley swore that he was blushing. Of course she wouldn’t forget about the night she had to do her best to drag him out of the party, all fucked up, back to his dorm. She wondered if he remembered any of it, like the part where he threw up in the bushes. Even if he did puke, he was still the adorable guy she knew...all flushed cheeks and glassy eyes.  
     Chris’s eyes met hers, “I think that’s kinda why I don’t like them as much, they’re not really that fun. There’s a whole lot of weed and drinks but yeah I feel you though, I’m not in the mood tonight.”  
      Ashley could see that affectionate look for a second in his eyes before he looks away. The headache seems to full until finally he’s looking her way again, “You wanna bounce?”  
     “Huh?”  
     “I’m tired and we’re not having fun, you want to get out of here?”

     Ashley could hardly get the question the second time he said it but she nodded. They both stood up and Chris followed behind her as she squeezed her way out to fresh air. Ashley was grateful for the release and turned back to grin up at Chris.She hated a little that he made her feel smaller because he was taller, but she knew she could easily grow to accept it . They both stood there staring like idiots until a loud stomach growl broke the silence. It took a second to react and then Chris burst out laughing.

     Ashley couldn’t help but laugh with it and besides...she liked to see him as his usual dorky self. Chris was happy a lot because he knew how to have fun. Sure her other friends and some people just thought he was a total nerd, but Ashley still laughed at his antics. Chris was the one kid that would put the orange peel in his mouth, stuff his mouth with as many grapes as he could, and of course always tell dad jokes.  
     

     They both eventually got a hold of themselves and were back to looking at each other with a different kind of look. Ashley thought it was just her, but as they shuffled from foot to foot...those familiar eyes gave her a different look. It reminded her a lot of how the guys stared at the love of their lives in those cheesy romance movies.        

  Chris looked like he was giving her this look full of affection and as much as she wanted to believe it.  
    She knew it was too good to be true. They were just study partners and best friends, that’s what Ashley kept trying to tell herself. 

     “You want to get something to eat? It’s-” he pulled out his phone from his pocket looking at the screen, “Midnight. Wow. Okay, well want to go pick up some crappy fast food as a snack?”

     Ashley gave him a nod and they both started to slowly walk from the musty smelling hall, to cold chilling fresh air. It was about thirty minutes before they finally got out to the kind of quiet Washington streets. They were both quiet as they walked and in some part of Ashley’s mind, she wished that she could have been holding his hand right now.  
Chris let out a groan, “Ugh this is boring Ash. Why so quiet? How ‘bout a joke?”  
Ashley loved his jokes.  
She glanced up at him, “Okay Chris.”  
For a minute he looked like he was thinking before he spoke up again at the crosswalk, “Why don’t skeletons ever go trick or treating?”  
“Why?”  
“They have no body to go with.”  
   

      It took a second to click before Ashley let out a snort, breaking out into giggles. Chris ended up laughing again with her as they walked to the golden arches that were so close. Ashley knew it was going to be good and for once she wanted to pull a joke of her own and try not to laugh.  
Ashley wiped at her eyes, “That was pretty good Chris.”  
     

     Chris had that stupid grin on his face, “I’ve got an endless list of puns and jokes Ash.You ever need a good laugh, you just hit me up.”  
     

     They were in front of the restaurant and Chris stood heroically with his hands on his hips, staring off into the distance. Ashley giggles a little more and Chris is still wearing that smile like maybe all he wanted to do was keep her laughing.  
They ended up finding a table in the practically empty place by the window, eating overly salted fries and bad apple pies. Chris and Ashley both ended up laughing again as they each took turns making funny faces with the french fries, Chris especially getting Ashley to crack up when he went for the walrus look. That led to Ashley doing the same in all honesty and then her taking the photo on her phone.  
     

     At about one in the morning, they both were walking back to the dorms. Both of them didn’t have any Monday classes so it was a nice and slow walk. The party would still be going on most likely and Ashley would eventually have to hear Jessica stumbling into their dorm drunk off her ass.  
Chris and Ashley both stopped at the girls dorm, not really sure how to say goodbye. Chris shifted on his feet and inside, Ashley kind of hoped he would just kiss her or something. He didn’t though and of course she wasn’t going to make that move. Chris did however make a different move. It took a moment to realize but Chris slowly pulled her in for a nice warm hug. Ashley hugged back, taking in his nice smelling minty cologne. It felt like such a long time standing there and she wished deep down it could have lasted longer as she pulled away.  
   

     Chris’s cheeks were a bright shade of pink, “Hey at least we had some fun right? That party wasn’t going anywhere.”  
    Ashley could feel her cheeks heating up too, “It was super fun.”  
    Chris awkwardly turned away from her walking away lifting his hand up and calling out, “See ya later alligator!’  
    Ashley once again laughed a little and could have sworn he was wearing a grin on his face walking away.

 

 


	2. Final Project

 

Tuesday just happened to be the worst day of the year. It was hot and sweaty in the classroom and worst of all it was hot outside. The desert weather wasn’t the only thing that fueled the misery of those who were in computer science. Ashley was having such a good day until Ms. Morrgan said today happened to be a very important day.

The second time was full of stress and anxiety. Ashley knew right now wasn’t the time for thought. The class was sweating from the heat and more importantly the stress of the final project. They had to make a command functioning program in four hours, which could be hard if you had no idea what you were doing. Ashley and Chris had mostly made progress and it looked like by the second hour people were giving out. They both were a good team, a good team that talked ever so often but typed furiously on the keyboard.  

Ashley couldn’t help but glance over sometimes to see him working hard on her right side, focusing on the laptop screen. Ashley did wish she could watch him focus more because it was just so cool, but she knew she had to pull her weight for their team. Chris was warm everytime his arm brushed against hers gently.  

Time hit to thirty minutes.

“Ash, we’re looking good right? Commands are working?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve got thirty minutes.”

“We’re going to be fine Chris.”

Ashley could see Chris getting visibly tense as his fingers started shaking while typing, his face looking more flushed than before. Ashley could feel herself sweating in the classroom, really wishing the air conditioner would just turn on already.

The time seemed to wrap up so fast and by the final second when Ms. Morrigan called for hands up, they were both done.

Everyone let out a loud cheer as they shot out of their chairs, the stress being free. Most of the class had a grin on their faces as they prepared for their presentation. Chris wiped his hands on his pants standing up to meet Ashley with a grin on his face. Chris had that same dorky grin on his face that Ashley loved to see, and in that moment she couldn’t have felt more shocked.

“We did Ash! We did it!”  

Ashley was suddenly hugged by her tall best friend ( ~~crush~~ ) and she got the same wave of that minty cologne. Ashley hoped it would go on longer, until he let go of her almost too soon. Ashley glanced up to see his pale cheeks a shade of pink and felt her own begin to heat up. She saw Chris raise a hand up for a high five trying to cover something up with a smile,

“They just got their asses handed to them!”

Ashley couldn’t help the laugh as she went up and met his hand for the gesture. While she was happy she couldn’t drive the butterflies out of her stomach as they both started getting ready for their presentation. Inside she did wish that something else could happen, but they were only friends. She could like him so much but then there was always the risk that maybe deep down he didn’t like her back the same way. Ashley in no way wanted to risk her friendship with him if that were the case.

That was the second time Chris hugged her.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a whole lot shorter than the last and probably all to come.


	3. Haunted House

The third time, Chris knew it wasn’t the best time.

Ashley hated anything related to horror. Chris knew fairly well about that problem after he listened to her complain on and on about how she didn’t want it to be Halloween yet. Chris had tried to watch a horror movie with her but she just ended up walking away. Right now at this moment, he honestly thought this was a terrible idea.

“I don’t want to go! Chris you know I can’t do that horror stuff. ”  
“Ash, come on. It’s not that scary I swear, it’s actually pretty shitty.”  
“That’s no fair though! You don’t even get scared easily!”

This was a stupid idea from the start. Mike and Jessica thought it would be a good idea to drag him over here to the carnival with Ashley as this subtle date kinda thing. Chris honestly wanted to do it himself and didn’t appreciate all the times he was basically shoved into Ashley. Right now he was trying to convince her to go into a place she clearly didn’t want to go into. Jessica and Mike loved haunted houses, they were way too excited to go in and be scared.

“Chris I can’t.”  
“Ashley, stop please. I know you can.”

Chris bit the inside of his cheek at how harsh that came out to be. The poor girl was almost in tears and he was trying to brush it off. He got Ashley was scared and the least he would want to do was make her cry. Mike seemed to get the delay because he gestured to his hand in Jessica’s loudly calling out for practically everyone to hear,

“Don’t worry Jessica, I’ll protect you!”

Jessica was giggling and Mike was giving him signs to go for it. Ashley was looking towards the ground and Chris pushed up his glasses nervously. A lot was going through his head, all of them relating to what if she shot him down? Then that would be just weird and even if they did become friends then it was wrong.  
He still held out his hand.

Ashley stared wide eyed at it and Chris tried his best to stop the trembling. His cheeks were heating up and he was pretty sure his voice cracked, “I...um...Ashley. You can hold my hand if you want. It’ll be fast in there and you don’t even have to look. You don’t really have to hold my hand if you don’t want to though it’s okay.”  
For a minute they were both frozen and Chris could have sworn that he blew it. Her green eyes slowly looked up to meet his as a smaller cold hand linked with his. Chris could have sworn she was still going to cry either way, Mike was practically cheering in the background.

Ashley spoke in a whisper, “Okay.”  
Chris really didn’t want her to think that he was forcing her to go in, “You sure?”  
“Just stay with me...”

Soon enough they were in line with a whole bunch of other people. There wasn’t really much to see except the guy at the front that looked like a creepy clown. It’s not like Chris got scared easily, he didn’t believe in all that crap. He just didn’t like the jumping out thing, most of it at least. From that time waiting in line, Mike with his arm around Jessica’s shoulders stared back at them. Ashley was staying close to Chris, leaning into him every time she got sight of the guy or some bad decoration.

Mike’s dark eyes looked too devious, “You guys ready?”  
Ashley shook her head and Chris gave a mild shrug saying for the both of them, “We’ll do our best.”  
Jessica gave a smirk, “Don’t worry Ashley, Chris will protect you from all the monsters.”  
Mike started to snicker, “And all of the scares. Just you know stay close and all.”

They ended up having to split off in pairs. Chris could see people running in as they got closer and others that were afraid to move. When it was their time, Mike glanced back to Chris giving him a thumbs up. He turned back around and ran into the dark room, both him and Jessica laughing with excitement.  
Chris glanced over, “Ash you alright?”  
He didn’t get an answer.

Ashley and him took it a little slower. Chris already noticed she was starting to shake as they were taking steps into the foggy area. Ashley stayed close to Chris and things were good for the first thirty seconds before there were flashing lights. Two people jumped out from behind the wall and Ashley let out a loud shriek. Chris jumped a little but stuck to now getting a free hand around Ashley’s shoulders and using the other hand to link their already clammy hands.

Ashley sounded already in tears, “What the heck?!”

Chris kind of enjoyed the rest of it, how close she was to him. He didn’t enjoy to see and know she was in tears though, that part he wanted to stop.

“Come on Ashley, don’t do that. Look no one is even here.”

She was hiding her face, “I-I’m scared Chris...please please...hurry!”  
He just wanted to reassure her, “Don’t be scared.”

Every jump scare seemed to not matter to Chris as he just focused getting out of the house because damn this was a mistake.

“I’ll protect you Ash, don’t worry I’ll protect you.”

It wasn’t that hard to protect her. The house was pretty shitty honestly and Chris wasn’t having any other problems pushing through any of the actors. Soon enough they were outside, Mike and Jessica who knows where. Ashley was the one to take a fresh breath of air, raising her long sleeved shirt to wipe at her face. She was all sweaty and of course crying, Chris didn’t feel like taking any other dating advice.  
Instinctively he pulled her in for a hug. Chris was hoping he didn’t hug her too tight, but as she did make a move to hug back he just wanted the gesture to say he was sorry.

“I um...sorry for basically making you go into the house Ashley, won’t happen again.”  
It was getting dark now, which meant heading back to the campus. As they headed back to the car prepared for only a small drive, Chris eventually heard her speak up.  
“Chris?”  
“Yeah Ash?”  
“Thank you.”

Chris didn’t get it. He stopped to look at her red rimmed tired eyes, feeling even more guilty than before. Chris knew he probably shouldn’t have, but he reached forward brushing a strand of hair from her face.

“For what?”

Her green eyes scanned the ground before meeting his, “For um...protecting me. Holding your hand made it better. That doesn’t mean I want to go in there anymore though, it was too much for me.”

Chris felt a little bit better than before. He felt a smile come to his face as he nodded slowly, “Oh. Sure Ash, no problem I would do it again. Now since we are out of that, what do you say about pranking Mike and Jessica?”  
He knew she didn’t like pranks but he did get that nice smile from her, which made Chris feel...good.


	4. Birthday

That fourth time Ashley was hugged by Chris Jensen it was on her birthday.  
Ashley had been in her dorm with Jessica, who was talking all about Mike. Ashley didn’t really care, she thought they were kinda cute together. When it got into sex though, Ashley couldn’t help but feel disgusted.

She impatiently checked her phone for anything from Chris, he said he had a surprise yesterday. Still nothing. She remembered calling him and only get the voicemail to answer, **“Hey, you’ve reached Chris. I must be really unavailable right now so leave your message at the tone. Peace out!”**

  
Jessica brushed out her blonde hair suddenly letting out a startling hum. Ashley jumped looking up at her, trying to focus more on the crappy pop music that Jessica picked out to play loudly. In the other rooms she could hear the other girls playing music too, talking smack about their sex lives way too loud for preference.  
Bright blue eyes landed on hers, “Ashley...you seem impatient.”  
“Just checking the time.”  
It was nine o clock.  
“That is such bullshit. Let me guess, he still hasn’t texted you yet? You’re the birthday girl! Geez, what a fucking dick. Michael would have texted me bright and early before I woke up.” 

Chris was anything but a dick.Ashley had high hopes he didn’t forget, she kept telling herself it didn’t really matter if it so happened he did. Chris was busy because he did his work, but he was also the phone addict so he could just be occupied. Right now she told herself that he was planning something or he might just tell her something later. 

Ashley let out a sigh, “Chris said to wait till it was the right time yesterday.”  
Jessica started braiding her hair, “Maybe he’s jacking off right now and totally is going to whip his dick out at the right time.”  
Ashley felt her cheeks flush, “Jessica! Oh my gosh!” 

Jessica did a jerking motion in the air with her hand before starting to giggle at her own joke as she looked back at Ashley. Jessica honestly didn’t like Chris. Sure she could pull a good act like she did when they went to the haunted house, but in reality Jess always made comments. Jessica told Ashley all about how she hated how immature Chris was and also just how much of a nerd he was. Really in reality, Ashley thought she was trying to say Mike was better then Chris. Ashley never did say much about it though, just ever so often had Chris’s back when Jessica maybe got a little mean. 

Jessica clicked her tongue, “You could honestly shoot for such a better guy Ashley, not a nerdy dickwad like Christopher.”  
Ashley frowned, “He’s a nice guy Jessica, just give him a chance okay?”  
Jessica let out a snort, not responding to the question. Ashley honestly really didn’t care right now, she just wondered where her phone addicted crush was. Her phone buzzed and she glanced down with a grin. 

**Chris,9:23 a.m.**  
**I’ll be there in a few minutes.**

  
It wasn’t until about ten minutes later there was a knock on the door and a sing song voice called out, “Oh Ash!”  
Jessica rolled her eyes as Ashley practically sprung up and ran for the door. She honestly never really felt that excited to see him, even if they were still friends. She opened the door, not being able to get rid of the smile on her face as she saw him. Today he was wearing a nice blue button up shirt, his black hoodie on top. In his hands he had two cups of coffee freshly picked up from most likely the cafeteria.

  
Chris gave her a big smile, “Hiya Ash...sorry I’m late. Happy Birthday! I got you coffee from the cafeteria. The girl behind the counter that I was crazy walking out with two drinks but you’re not a coffee virgin and I wasn’t going to pass the chance, so like she can just keep wondering. Anyways don’t worry this isn’t your birthday gift, it’s just...something small right now.”

  
Ashley wasn’t never going to admit she hadn’t gone to get coffee herself because she was waiting for him. He handed her the hot cup and she took it with a smile, having full confidence he got it right. As soon as she did stall and eventually drink it, she couldn’t be happier.  
“Thanks Chris, you’re the bomb.”  
Chris had that goofy smile on his face as he took a drink of his own coffee, “I do my best.” 

Ashley would be happy enough with just coffee.

Chris looked in smirking when he saw Jessica, “Oh hey Jessica, what erotic things do you plan to do with Mike today.”  
“None of your business Christopher, now both of you just get the hell out. Seriously standing in the doorway and doing your nerd mating ritual thing is just weird .” 

Ashley would have stayed like that longer just to see Jessica get mad and Chris laugh at his own jokes.  
Chris was being really nice all day. He was volunteering to carry Ashley’s bag, he gave her his jacket when things got cold, he was looking like he was trying a lot harder to make her laugh. Ashley just thought he was being a big dork but she couldn’t help the smile as she watched him show off some terrible dance move or play a prank. 

It just felt weird, he was hardly on his phone. Ashley even felt a little bad because he was just doing everything for her. Chris paid for lunch and he even got her this really cute charm bracelet as the actual gift. Ashley felt like they were a thing and could feel the disappointment setting in when she remembered the truth. It just felt weird to even be in his dorm room and still be in his minty smelling jacket. 

Chris shared his dorm with Mike so one half was solely based on football posters, due date papers thumb tacked to the wall, and a messy bed. 

“Ah...sorry about the mess Ash, Mr. High School Class President doesn’t really clean shit when he’s going to go suck his girlfriends face off.” 

Ashley couldn’t help but giggle as she sat on Chris’s nicely made bed, patting the side for him to take a seat. Chris sat down next to her looking hesitant, not really saying anything. The silence went on before finally Ashley decided to throw out out a joke, “You must be getting better on your phone addictions, they have an app for that?”  
A slow grin came to his face as he replied, “I could probably make one...but nah, I’ve got better things to focus on.”  
Ashley nodded in response, not sure really what to say. Today was great and she really did wish every day could be like this one with him. 

“Chris?”  
Blue grey eyes glanced down at her, “Yeah Ash?”  
“Thank you for today, it was really fun.”  
There was another brief silence before Chris broke it, “You’re the birthday girl...no need to thank me.” 

They spent an hour laying there on his bed, giggling about gossip and Chris’s jokes. They were best friends for too long now and every recycled joke seemed to always be funny. 

Eventually Chris slowly walked with her back to the girl’s dorm, “Ash...I’ve got one more thing to show you later.”  
“Before or after dinner?”  
“After.”  
Ashley smiled a little, “Okay Chris.”  
They both stopped at the door ,awkwardly staring at the ground and shifting on their feet. Inside Ashley wanted him to kiss her already, to break up the silence. She wanted to do it but she already knew it would be wrong. They both just stood there and eventually Chris went in to pull her in for a tight hug.  
“Happy Birthday Ashley.”  
Ashley couldn’t help the smile and felt that longing again as he pulled away slowly, moving to walk away.  
“I’ll...see you at dinner?”  
“You know it, wait!”  
Chris stopped and glanced back to meet her eyes, “Yeah?”  
Ashley was making moves starting to take off the too big jacket, “Don’t you want your jacket? I’m sorry, you must be freezing-”  
Chris raised up a hand, a smile slowly coming to his face. It wasn’t hard for her to see his blushing as he took his glasses off and wiped them on his shirt.  
“I don’t need it.”  
Ashley didn’t want him to bluff, “But-”  
“Ash it’s okay, keep it safe for me.” 

Chris was giving her that big smile and Ashley could feel her cheeks heating up. Ashley gave him a small wave as he slowly turned away, walking back towards the boy dorms. It was way too early for dinner and Ashley already did miss Chris. 

As she went upstairs, she hoped that Michael and Jessica weren’t having sex. Thankfully as she slowly entered, both of them had probably just left. The air smelled like Jessica’s cotton candy perfume but Ashley was hardly fazed by it. Chris’s cologne lingering on his jacket, it made her miss him a little less.  
She felt like it would be ages before dinner time. 

Ashley laid down on her bed, finding it hilarious that she couldn’t see her hands because of the sleeves. Chris’s hoodie was obviously too big on her, the shoulders were loose and the sleeves made for his long arms were huge. The length hung down past her waist, not like on Chris who fit into it normally it.  
Ashley was still smiling though. She pulled the jacket tighter, imagining his stupid grin. Her phone buzzed and as much as she hoped it was Chris, it was instead Jessica who probably wouldn’t be at dinner because she was already drunk this early.

**Jessica:**  
**Back from your date?**

**Ashley:**

**It wasn’t a date Jess. Are you drunk?**

  
**Jessica:**

**No...well...Not yEt ;) . Don’t you like get it though, nerd brain likes you.It’s not that hard to see it and you totally like him back.**

**Ashley:**

**What? No he doesn’t, we’re just friends.**

  
**Jessica:**

**I just confirmed with Michael, Christopher has total heart eyes for you. I mean hey I don’t like him very much but I totally ship you guys.**

 

Ashley felt herself go numb in a sudden snap. Chris liked her...but he didn’t say anything. She wanted to think Jessica was lying but the mist in her mind cleared and Ashley could feel the guilt setting in. Ashley could remember all those moments, maybe it looked like she was leading him on. She knew she should have said something, she should have been the one to tell him first. 


	5. Confession

It was about two in the morning and Chris couldn’t sleep. Another restless technically Friday now. Chris didn’t have any classes today which was considerably good since well, he knew deep down he wasn’t going to make it if he had to get up that early.Chris kept thinking about dinner and how quiet Ashley was. She had seemed so happy all day but right then she wouldn’t even look at him. There was a whole cake and sure she seemed happy for a second but then she just went back to looking sad. Chris tried jokes but only got a small smile and her heading out early to bed.

It was two thirty, Mike wasn’t there and there was a knock on his door. The noise made him jump, but he quickly grabbed his glasses from the nightstand and the shirt from the ground as he moved to open it. Chris was more focused on how honestly loose the shorts he was wearing were and the fact that Mike was probably drunk again.

Mike wasn’t the one at the door.Chris was surprised to see the girl, with the reddish brown hair. His all time crush and best friend. Chris was surprised to see her not saying anything and shaking?

Chris tried cracking a joke, “Little early isn’t it Ash?”

Ashley shoved the thing in her arms, into his roughly. There wasn’t any words and Chris was about to question why now she looked clearly upset as she stood there looking at him in the dark.

Her voice was wavering, “I-I brought it back because...you were going to be cold if I didn’t. I feel so bad. I was honestly so stupid and oh my god...I’m sorry I should have told you or something because we wasted all of this time-”

Chris’s heart sunk as he saw her put a hand over face letting out something close to a sob. Now would have been the perfect time to hug her but he couldn’t bring himself to do the action because in all honesty he wanted to cry with her. Chris just wanted to tell her how sorry he was because he knew...it suddenly hit him what she was asking about and he only wished he could have told her before. It was horrible seeing her in tears, usually he always got her to laugh.

His own voice was wavering, “Ashley...”

She’s shaking her head, “Is it true? Is it really honestly true Christopher?”

Chris winced at his full name and wanted to pretend that this wasn’t what she was asking, “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play around, I want to know Chris. Just please tell me if it’s true or not.”

Chris could only manage a nod and she’s choking on another sob, “I should...I s-should have s-said something huh?”

Chris knew he had to do something, he had to say something. Both of them crying right here in the middle of the hallway wasn’t going to help anything, it wasn’t going to help. In reality it should have been him that should have said it, she shouldn’t have put it on herself to do it. Chris grabbed her hand pulling her gently into the room before quietly shutting the door.

  
  


They both stood there still and Chris gently put his hands on her shoulders, “Ashley...none of it was wasted okay? None of it. This week was the best time I’ve had with you, every time I’m with you...it’s always the best time. I’m the one that should be sorry...I should have told you how I felt.”

Chris gently pulled her into a hug gently in case she was ready to pull away, but she just hugged back. Chris wasn’t really sure if she was crying anymore, but he heard a quiet muffled, “Oh...Chris....I’m sorry.”

They stood there what felt like an eternity, Chris gently running his hand through her hair. Of course he felt bad, she wasn’t supposed to end up crying. It was a release of a long held wait though, she knew about what he was holding down.

Brown eyes with shiny tears met his, “Is this...”

“I want it to but...do you want it to be?”

She nodded and he replied with the same gesture, “Okay....okay then it’s official.”

They pulled away and were standing there in the dim darkness holding hands. Her face was probably blotchy, her nice brown eyes cracked with red but right now she was the prettiest girl he had ever laid eyes on.

She always was.

Chris still did want to get her to laugh, “I...my brain just decided to get up and leave my body. I’m happy though, really really happy.”

Ashley’s soft laughter broke the silence and Chris felt the tension in his shoulders ease up as she finally spoke up, “Funny how that happens, your brain just getting up and leaving with such short notice.”

“Yeah...”

 

That was the fifth time and the best for the both of them .

 

 


	6. Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one time she hugged him.

Ashley was feeling a mix between fear and anxiety sitting there in the hospital waiting room. It’s been around a month since her and Chris started going out and it’s been a great one. She liked having his arm around her, the way he took his time kissing, his funny shirts, how he let her wear his jackets,  and of course how much of a dork he still was. Ashley had on her side of the dorm now a whole board dedicated to pictures of her and Chris as well as the whole group of friends she had. There was a picture that she got of course with his glasses off looking a little pissed (he still looked pretty great to her), there was that picture of when they went to mcdonald’s that late night and ended up being dorks with the french fries, there was a picture of the first date (Chris was making a funny face again) and there were some normal ones that were pretty adorable. The ones of the group usually consisted of selfies Jessica took, everyone in the shot usually pouting (Mike got that one down).

Right now though, not even the picture wall couldn’t even help her.

It was about an hour since the whole thing happened. They were all playing outside like a bunch of puppies, a game of soccer or at least something related to that. Ashley had begged Chris to be on her team because it was unfair and she wanted him to have a little fun that wasn’t on his phone. Even if he did have a lot of bad experiences with sports (Last time he got smacked in the face and cracked his glasses), he still went with her.

It was all good until Mike kicked too hard and Chris got hit in the head. Ashley knew it was an accident but the panic of him falling to the ground completely unconscious, Mike looking horrified and Jessica calling 911 was all just too much to deal with.  

Mike’s leg was bouncing up and down as he just kept looking worried and Jessica was ever so often telling him that it was an accident. Ashley was a little bit mad about it but she knew deep down it wasn’t like he meant it.

Mr. Confident looked all worried, “Ashley...I’m sorry, I swear I didn’t mean to hit him that hard.”

Ashley gave him a small nod, “It’s okay.”

The moment the doctor said he just had a mild concussion, Ashley jumped up to go see him. The halls smelled too clean to her liking and the room was just too white. Chris was still in his white shirt that was grass stained and jeans. He wasn’t wearing his glasses and was more like squinting upset at his phone.

There was a big fat purple bruise that spread across his forehead.

It took Ashley getting closer for him to realize it was her, “This is so lame Ash, my phone cracked.”

The anxiety didn’t feel as strong but she still was a little pissed that all he was worried about was the phone, “Chris...I think you have a lot more things to worry about then your phone.”

“My glasses?”

“No! Your head, you could have died or something!”

Blue eyes looked at her a little confused before something close to realization came to his face as he put his cracked screen down. Ashley bit her tongue because of how loud that actually came out to be, worried deep down the doctors were going to come kick her out.

“Ashley I’m fine. Are you okay? That game was pretty rough.”

“You scared me. You even scared Mike and you know him...he doesn’t really get scared of things like that. You’re the one that should be worried if you’re fine or not.”

A warm hand reached out and grabbed hers. There was a smile on his face as he repeated once again, “Sorry I scared you Ash...but I’m okay I swear. My parents can probably lend me cash for glasses and a screen.”

Ashley leaned down, for once being the one to give him a hug first. It wasn’t perfect but it was enough of a gesture to say she was glad he wasn’t dead. As she pulled away, he gently pressed his lips to her. It was short but it was enough every time.

As she looked around to grab a chair she saw Chris had a big grin on his face, “I tried sports before but I didn’t know I sucked until it hit me.”

Ashley tried her best not to giggle but a small laugh came out. She gave him a small smile, “You tried. Well now since you broke your glasses, I guess I’ll have to stick close to you for now?”

Pink came to Chris’s cheeks, “I guess so or how am I going to know you’re here? I’m like practically blind Ash.”

Ashley could feel the red coming to her cheeks as she let out a laugh followed by him. They were both giggling for a few minutes before Ashley finally leaned her head down on the bed, as Chris ran his fingers through her hair.

She knew he was just trying to get the mood back up, “I’m going to be fine okay? I wouldn’t just go die on you.”

That was the first time she was the one to give the hug.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> My First Fiction that was kind of a dare. I'm sorry if they're out of character.


End file.
